Western Tailed-Blue
Cupido amyntula (Boisduval, 1852)
Family: Lycaenidae
Subfamily: Polyommatinae
Identification: Narrow tail on hindwing. Upperside of male blue, female brown with blue at wing base. Underside white with black spots indistinct or lacking; single small orange spot near tail.
Wing Span: 7/8 - 1 1/8 inches (2.2 - 2.9 cm).
Life History: Males patrol and perch during the day. Females lay eggs on flowers or young seedpods of host plant. Caterpillars eat young seeds inside the pod, where they overwinter and pupate.
Flight: March-July. Several broods in southern California, a partial second brood in the southern Rocky Mountains, and one brood elsewhere.
Caterpillar Hosts: Legumes with inflated pods including false lupine (Thermopsis), milkvetch (Astragalus), crazyweed (Oxytropis), and vetches (Vicia and Lathyrus).
Adult Food: Flower nectar.
Habitat: Open - usually native - areas with low shrubs including chaparral, meadows, and open woodland.
Range: Alaska south through western North America and all western mountains to northern Baja California, east across Canada's prairie provinces to northern Michigan, Ontario, and the Gaspé Peninsula.
Conservation: Not usually required.
NCGR: G5 - Demonstrably secure globally, though it may be quite rare in parts of its range, especially at the periphery.
Management Needs: None reported.
Comments: NULL
Alternate Scientific Names:
Everes amyntula
Verified Sightings
Displaying 1 - 24 of 707 verified sightings
Observation date: Oct 12, 2022
Submitted by: MAKI
Region: Santa Barbara County, California, United States
Verified by: Ken Davenport
Verified date: Jan 27, 2023
Observation date: Jul 12, 2022
Submitted by: stevecary
Region: Otero County, New Mexico, United States
Verified by: stevecary
Verified date: Jan 02, 2023
Observation date: Sep 17, 2022
Submitted by: NikkiM
Region: Carbon County, Montana, United States
Verified by: J_Martineau
Verified date: Jan 02, 2023
Observation date: May 30, 2022
Submitted by: stevecary
Region: Apache County, Arizona, United States
Verified by: John Calhoun
Verified date: Dec 26, 2022
Observation date: May 12, 2022
Submitted by: stevecary
Region:
Verified by: stevecary
Verified date: Dec 24, 2022
Observation date: Jul 14, 2022
Submitted by: MAKI
Region: Santa Barbara County, California, United States
Verified by: Ken Davenport
Verified date: Oct 13, 2022
Observation date: Sep 14, 2022
Submitted by: MAKI
Region: San Miguel Island County, California, United States
Verified by: Ken Davenport
Verified date: Oct 11, 2022
Observation date: Aug 03, 2022
Submitted by: MAKI
Region: San Miguel Island County, California, United States
Verified by: Ken Davenport
Verified date: Oct 11, 2022
Observation date: Sep 30, 2022
Submitted by: Reneerob17
Region: Bernalillo County, New Mexico, United States
Verified by: stevecary
Verified date: Oct 03, 2022
Observation date: May 29, 2019
Submitted by: Liz Osborn
Region: British Columbia, Canada
Verified by: Paul Prappas
Verified date: Sep 25, 2022
Observation date: May 21, 2018
Submitted by: Actiaslunabelle
Region: British Columbia, Canada
Verified by: Paul Prappas
Verified date: Sep 23, 2022
Observation date: Jun 08, 2019
Submitted by: Liz Osborn
Region: British Columbia, Canada
Verified by: Paul Prappas
Verified date: Sep 23, 2022
Observation date: Jun 11, 2019
Submitted by: Liz Osborn
Region: British Columbia, Canada
Verified by: Paul Prappas
Verified date: Sep 16, 2022
Observation date: Jun 11, 2019
Submitted by: Liz Osborn
Region: British Columbia, Canada
Verified by: Paul Prappas
Verified date: Sep 16, 2022
Observation date: Jul 06, 2019
Submitted by: Liz Osborn
Region: British Columbia, Canada
Verified by: Paul Prappas
Verified date: Sep 14, 2022
Observation date: Jun 13, 2019
Submitted by: Reiner Jakubowski
Region: British Columbia, Canada
Verified by: Paul Prappas
Verified date: Sep 13, 2022
Observation date: May 29, 2020
Submitted by: Claire Christensen
Region: British Columbia, Canada
Verified by: Paul Prappas
Verified date: Sep 10, 2022
Observation date: Aug 13, 2022
Submitted by: tjay13
Region: Santa Fe County, New Mexico, United States
Verified by: stevecary
Verified date: Aug 18, 2022
Observation date: Jul 22, 2022
Submitted by: tjunderwood
Region: Sandoval County, New Mexico, United States
Verified by: stevecary
Verified date: Aug 15, 2022
Observation date: Jul 14, 2022
Submitted by: topper72
Region: Los Alamos County, New Mexico, United States
Verified by: stevecary
Verified date: Jul 17, 2022
Observation date: Jul 06, 2022
Submitted by: cklindsey
Region: Walla Walla County, Washington, United States
Verified by: davidwdroppers
Verified date: Jul 07, 2022
Observation date: Jun 13, 2022
Submitted by: Jon Kindschy
Region: Gunnison County, Colorado, United States
Verified by: mikefisher
Verified date: Jul 02, 2022
Observation date: Jun 22, 2022
Submitted by: weflybye
Region: Klickitat County, Washington, United States
Verified by: davidwdroppers
Verified date: Jun 30, 2022
Observation date: Jun 02, 2022
Submitted by: Cascade Colors
Region: Jefferson County, Colorado, United States
Verified by: mikefisher
Verified date: Jun 28, 2022
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